Oct 23, 2018 how to format a novel in microsoft word self publishing. Our knowledgeable designers will create a book cover that nabs attention on bookshelves and in online retail shops. As a former microsoft trainer turned self published author, he is able to speak from considerable relevant. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Publishing an ebook frees authors from relying on a publishing company to sell their. These easy steps will help ensure your ebook formatting goes smoothly. Turn your completed manuscript into a formatted ebook with kindle create. Driven to succeed with a passion for the industry and capitalist strength. They saved my book and can certainly do it for yours as well highly recommended. This is a step by step guide you can follow to format your word manuscript. Buy book formatting for self publishers, a comprehensive howto guide. Book formatting for self publishers jennette green. How to format your word or pages doc for your ebook.
In this video, i show you exactly how i format my own ebooks. Weve produced three new bookbaby how to videos to help get you through the self publishing. You can write and upload a word document as your ebook and itll look fine on kindle and other platforms. It takes a few minutes to fill in your details and upload your files. Ricardo fayet of alli partner member reedsy explains the ins and outs of their new tool to help indie authors format ebooks and print books for self publishing a simple and free process. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes and your book appears on kindle stores worldwide within 2448 hours. If you have created your ebook in word, you can convert it to. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in. Discusses many important decisions authors must make, like setting the price and the proscons of enrolling in kdp select. Kindle direct publishing kdp is your onestop shop for getting your ebook file. Prepare your book self publishing amazon kindle direct. Before self publishing, you need to know how to format an ebook in a microsoft word document. How to format ebooks quickly and easily in microsoft word, enabling indie authors to produce their own books without additional software or. Most publishing platforms automatically remove unnecessary double spacing to create flowing text in an ebook.
Self publish ebooks and paperbacks for free with kindle direct publishing, and reach millions of readers on amazon. By colin dunbar in todays self publishing world, its a good idea to have your book available in as many formats as you can. I am a self published author, and have been working in the publishing industry for the. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. Selfpublishing selfpublishing companies publishing a. How do i remove hard returns from my word document. Tagged as formatting for smashwords, kindle ebook on amazon, online self publishing, publish to kindle, self publised, self publishing kindle ebook, self publishing online, smashwords style guide. Also, since its the most popular platform, were going to focus on how to format your ebook for kdp kindle direct publishing. To help you format your own ebooks and to deal more effectively with formatting service providers, professional book designer and indie publisher derek murphy kindly shares his top 5 tips for formatting self published ebooks. It does involve jumping a few hurdles, though, and those hurdles are the reason that so many selfpublished authors dont have print versions of their books. Free book formatting templates in ms word and indesign. Word2kindle was a integral part in getting my 2nd book framer into publication as its formatting was pretty problematic. The information we give is specific to the 2016 version of word, but the steps are similar in most versions.
Everything you need to know about ebook formatting scribendi. Its not that hard to format your word document for a kindle ebook if you. Since this is the nanowrimo month, and im using it to finish this book and blog series on self publishing, you can expect a new post tomorrow. For the first time in history, authors can self publish a book with the click of the button and amazon kindle direct publishing has made the process more accessible than ever in fact, its pretty easy to publish your book on kdp, which is why its caught on so rapidly, especially for those who found traditional publishing. Ebook launch helped make my first self publishing project a success. In this free detailed guide, im going to show you how to format a book for kindle for fiction and nonfiction yes, there is a difference when it comes to formatting fiction and nonfiction, so you need to make sure you follow the right process for your genre. There is a slight delay in getting the post for self publishing to createspace, and i thought id take this opportunity to check in and hear if theres something that you need with the formatting of your book in word. Formatting a book for kindle is one facet of self publishing many people feel is just too hard to do. Self publishing your kindle book with microsoft word, or tips on formatting your document so your ebook wont look terrible kindle publishing 1 kindle edition by aaron shepard. Formatting a print book for kdp can be learned quite quickly, and you can do everything in microsoft word, or indesign if you want to make it extra professional. Our book designers dont use templates to design your ebook. Prepare, publish, promote prepare your book format your manuscript ebook manuscript resources microsoft word document. Top 10 selfpublishing companies for firsttime authors editage. In the past, self publishing a print book was expensive and risky.
After you format your manuscript in word, add finishing touches with kindle create. How to format a manuscript for self publishing youtube. How to correctly format an ebook for amazon kdp with microsoft word the. The goal when youre self publishing is to always make your book look as traditionally published as possible, so im giving you a stepby0step guide on formatting your novel. But while vellum, for example, is a favorite among mac users, a very common starting point is microsoft word. As you do so, vellum applies your selection to every chapter even if you add new ones. Jan 15, 2020 because word is a flexible word processing system, you can simply use a book template within word, and start typing your book directly onto the page. The first thing that need to understand when formatting your book for amazons kindle with microsoft word is the following.
Structure your word document to make ebook conversion and formatting easy. You can sell your print books wherever you like while using kdp print on demand pod publishing. Selfpublishing a kindle ebook on kindle direct publishing is really easy. Through his books, podcast, training videos, and selfpublishing school, hes helped thousands of people on their journey to writing their first book.
But for poets, poem formatting for ebooks can cause some problems. The information is specific to the 2016 version of word, but the steps are similar in most versions. The first and most important thing to understand about ebook retailers and distributors is that they are not publishers. It has probably taken months, if not longer to write your books manuscript.
Authors have enough costs and publishing challenges to deal with already, so ive built an amazing package of book formatting templates in ms word and indesign you can download for free. You can upload and convert your ebook manuscript file from several supported formats. Ebook formatting is the preparation of a digital file, to ensure that it meets the publishers requirements and is an enjoyable reading experience. They responded promptly when i had questions prior to hiring them for a custom ebook cover and. As you prepare your ebook, consider whether your content should have a fixed or reflowable format. This guide will show you stepbystep how to format a word document on windows in order to control hidden formatting in a way that results in a friendly conversion to kindle. Or check our youtube video tutorial, an introduction to ebook publishing. Now, formatting an ebook in word basically comes down to. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in 6 easy. How to format your kdp ebook selfpublishing tips youtube. Nov 01, 2017 since this is the nanowrimo month, and im using it to finish this book and blog series on selfpublishing, you can expect a new post tomorrow. When hitting the enter key in word, you are forcing the line to break to the next line.
Since its one of the most widely used formats, im going to show you how to format an ebook in microsoft word. Formatting print books with word selfpublishing advice. Their price was about half what was quoted by format and book cover freelancers, so i was pleased that i got my moneys worth. Even if you dont use a book template, you can still write a book using microsoft word just be aware that you may have to spend more time formatting your book when its time to publish it. Learn how to format and self publish an ebook for kindle devices and reading apps by experienced self publishing guru chris mcmullen. How to format a novel in microsoft word selfpublishing. Yes, youve guessed it this time, hes explaining how to use word to format print books. Due to this, your word file is almost certainly full of erroneous styles, formatting. Importing a document with unnecessary hard returns into our design software w. After formatting, you can publish your word manuscript as an ebook.
For help formatting a quality ebook, see this stepbystep guide. For the many indie authors who still favor microsoft word for formatting their books, heres a companion piece to ian andrews recent post about using word to create ebook interiors. Self publishing fiction is as easy as having a word document and then uploading. They pay people hundreds of dollars to do something they could do in a half hour using microsoft word. Heres everything you need to know about amazon self publishing pros of self publishing on amazon. By colin dunbar self publishing a kindle ebook is really easy. When you publish your ebook, well automatically add the cover image you. For the best results, we recommend a microsoft word docdocx or a kpf file created with kindle create. The stepbystep guide to formatting your print book for kdp. To understand why, id recommend that you read the smashwords style guide as soon as you can. You need to see the formatting marks, so turn them on, as well as the navigation pane and the ruler, by clicking the backtofront p sign the paragraph symbol used by proofreaders. We help independent authors get their books to market with ebook conversion, interior formatting, cover design, and editorial services. Apr 14, 2015 tagged as book design, book design basics, book design checklist, book formatting, book front matter, format a book in word, format book in word, format kindle ebook, kindle ebook on amazon, kindle formatting, kindle word format, publish to kindle, selfpublishing kindle ebook self publishing can be complicatedwe make it easy. See our guides for formatting your manuscript and creating a cover.
Smashwords how to publish an ebook with smashwords ebooks. Jul 02, 2017 for the basic information on how to establish your own imprint or publishing company, read joel friedlanders post, how to create, register, and list your new publishing company. Type it clean use the default settings in microsoft word. Using my book formatting service coupled with lulu, you can print a life story or publish a novel or other type of book, without the need to spend hundreds of pounds or order vast quantities of books. If you follow this procedure for using word styles to prepare your publishing document and format an ebook using your new word file, it will be absolutely perfect. Or, check out our complete collection of ebook publishing. How to format ebooks in word selfpublishing advice. However if your ebook does not contain these formatting issues, here are 6 easy steps to turn your microsoft word document into a kindle book. Self publishing your kindle book with microsoft word, or tips on formatting your document so your ebook wont look terrible kindle publishing. Amazon kdp has taken the publishing world by storm. Formatting your book for selfpublishing is one of the easiest steps and.
An ebook is a digital version of your manuscript that consist of text, images, or both. Jun 24, 2017 learn the basics of formatting your book using microsoft word. It will help you export the file formatted in words as a professional printready pdf, and it will also be about images and how to prepare them to avoid rejection by the selfpublishing platforms. Spatzs professional writing career began at age, paid by the word to bang out little league baseball game stories on an ancient manual typewriter for southern oregon weekly newspapers. Then within 12 hours english language books your kindle ebook is live in the amazon kindle store. We have 9 years of experience helping authors achieve their dreams. See our separate guides for formatting a paperback in microsoft word.
Formatting focuses on microsoft word 2010, including many tips to format the paperback and e book. Amazons kindle direct publishing kdp is a fast, easy and free way for authors and publishers to keep control and publish their books worldwide on the kindle and kindle reading apps. Check out this video walkthrough showing you how i format a book for kindle right on my computer screen. Using word styles is the easiest way to prepare your word file before you publish your ebook you will also need to make sure that your document is clean of any background code that can affect fonts, paragraph styles and line spacing in your ebook.
How to correctly format an ebook for amazon kdp with. My last post led us through the process of getting rid of all the junk, hidden code, and other weirdness. Book formatting for ebooks and print the creative penn. How to format a poetry book for ebook selfpublishing. Format book in word everything you need to format your. For this and more amazing training videos, head on over to ebook publishing school. All book design book distribution bookbaby news ebook formatting ebook industry news epub conversion formatting and style industry news printed books 101 self publishing.
In this book, aaron shepard offers his own tips for moving your document from word to kindle, with a focus on desktop word versions from 20032004 to 20102011. How to format an ebook for kindleamazon publishing in. An ebook can be read on most mobile devices, all of which can hold hundreds of titles at once. If you want to get a bit fancier with formatting you can upload an html file you can quickly save your word. Formatting for the kindle is really plain formatting.
This video is a basic rundown of some things to know when formatting a manuscript for self publishing. Because word is a flexible word processing system, you can simply use a book template within word, and start typing your book directly onto the page. Aaron shepard is a foremost proponent of the new business of profitable self publishing, which he has practiced and helped develop since 1998. Convert book covers for lightning source, createspace. How you format your word document is crucial if you plan to publish an e book. Microsoft word automatically adjusts the formatting as you create the document.
Your ebook checklist ebook self publishing bookbaby blog. My self publishing book formatting service is an economical way to publish a book. Selfpublishing is easier now than its ever been, but there are some mysteries. Dont miss the smart author podcast mentioned above. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading from word to kindle.
In this stepbystep video guide, we walk you through formatting a paperback manuscript in microsoft word. Free tool for book formatting selfpublishing advice. You can be confident that when you publish your ebook, it will be a pleasure for readers to read on any device. Sep 02, 2016 steven spatz is a writer, marketer, and the president of bookbaby, the nations leading self publishing services company. Selfpublishing services for independent authors ebookpbook. Jul 20, 2017 top tips for ebook formatting in word. Since this is the nanowrimo month, and im using it to finish this book and blog series on self publishing, you can. Self publishing best ebook conversion service kindle ebook. Our expert ebook designers will first examine your uploaded manuscript to create a custom layout that matches the theme and message of your ebook. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes and your book appears on kindle. Then within 12 hours for english language books, your kindle ebook will be live in the amazon kindle store. You can do this the debate continues, but im back to tell you yes, you can format and upload your ebook manuscript in microsoft word. Do you know that you can format your own ebook for kindle publishing in under 10 minutes and save yourself tons of money.
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